FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Their families are back home, and home isn't a good place to be right now.

Jonathan Herrera and Felix Doubront went back to Venezuela in the offseason to visit. It wasn't a purely happy visit.

With their country in a state of unrest, with anti-government protests growing by the day, American reporters getting robbed at gunpoint, simple supplies like milk and sugar becoming harder and harder to find and a host of other problems, Doubront and other Venezuelan players are trying to play baseball in Florida.

"It's not easy," Herrera said. "When you have it inside your head that things aren't going good in your country, that's a bad feeling. I hope everything gets better. Everything isn't going right. You need to just pray and be in contact with your family and make sure they're OK."

The Red Sox's Venezuelan contingent, which includes Herrera, Doubront, Edward Mujica, Jose Mijares, Brayan Villarreal, Heiker Meneses and bullpen catcher Mani Martinez, got together to take a picture on Monday. In the photo, which Doubront posted on his Twitter account, the players are holding a Venezuelan flag and asking for peace.

They plan on sending the photo to Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

While the players are each going through unique circumstances with regards to their family back home, they have to be careful with what they say publicly.

"There's not too much I can say, but it isn't good," Herrera said. "We are like a spread country. Some people are one side, some people are on the other side. I hope everybody can get together for the future of the country."